The FBI has denied losing the Idaho murder suspect on an overland trip to Pennsylvania.
Sources had told AirMail’s Howard Blum, who is writing a true crime book about the horrifying murders, that the “prime suspect in a quadruple murder that had shocked the nation had appeared to have disappeared for hours”.
However, the FBI now denies they lost Bryan Kohberger, saying sources fed “false information” to the media.
“The FBI is aware of reports detailing alleged FBI surveillance of Bryan Kohberger, who was murdered in Idaho,” the FBI told in a statement Thursday. “There are anonymous sources that are giving false information to the media. The release of false information attributed to anonymous sources does not help the case against Kohberger or the American public.’
The FBI has denied losing the Idaho murder suspect on an overland trip to Pennsylvania
The crime happened on November 21, miles from Kohberger’s arrest location. His father flew to meet his son in Washington and drove him back to their home in Pennsylvania
Authorities had planned to keep a close eye on the 28-year-old criminology student as he and his father traveled more than 2,500 miles back to Pennsylvania for the vacation.
Kohberger and his father, Michael, left Pullman, Washington, where he was studying at Washington State University, but were almost immediately lost by the FBI.
The couple had just exited the parking lot of their college dorm before he disappeared from police sight – before being stopped twice on his way back to the family home.
A Hancock County Sheriff’s Department confirmed that Kohberger was pulled over by a deputy around 10:41 a.m. on Dec. 15.
Kohberger was pulled over twice within nine minutes while driving on I-70 in December and looked more concerned the second time.
Afterwards, Blum claimed that Kohberger and his father “disappeared” for 15 hours.
Blum’s sources claimed law enforcement hinted at the potentially disastrous slip “with a touch of embarrassment.”
Kohberger and his father, Michael, left Pullman, Washington, where he was studying at Washington State University, but were almost immediately lost by the FBI
Blum added, “It would be a disaster — not just professionally, but for your own peace of mind.”
It also meant that the white Hyundai Elantra that officers had carefully tracked down and even linked to the murders in the first place was also gone.
Kohberger also reportedly took an “indirect route home,” with Michael telling a friend it was a route that made “little sense.”
That FBI surveillance quickly went from “panic to desperation,” according to Blum, who added that they only picked him up again after an automatic license plate reader picked up his car in Colorado.
Kohberger and his vehicle were identified 900 miles after police originally lost them — about 15 hours after takeoff.
Two stops by Indiana police also left the FBI “frustrated and angry” and insisted they were not ordered by senior investigators to stop him.
They feared that if local police recognized Appellen’s car, Kohberger might flee or be arrested too soon.
Best friends Kaylee Goncalves and Madison Mogen, both 21, were murdered along with roommate Xana Kernodle and her boyfriend Ethan Chapin, both 20, at a home off campus in Moscow
Idaho Police said the four University of Idaho students were murdered in their sleep between 3 and 4 a.m. (Pictured: victims Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Maddie Mogen, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and 20-year-old Ethan Chapin)
On both occasions, however, the alleged killer was released, allowing agents to follow the car back to the Pocono Mountains.
A SWAT team later descended on the property, arrested Kohberger, and searched the home for evidence.
Those tracking him were also tasked with tracking Kohberger so they could arrest him once a warrant was issued, and attempted to obtain an object to compare the DNA to a sample found at the crime scene.
Police saw the suspect wearing surgical gloves several times outside his parents’ $250,000 home in Pennsylvania.
Kohberger was also spotted cleaning the inside and outside of his car, with a source adding that he “didn’t miss an inch.”
He was reportedly seen taking rubbish to his neighbors’ rubbish bins around 4am – the contents were seized by officers.
He was arrested after being pursued by the FBI for four days near his parents’ home in Pennsylvania, with authorities narrowing the suspect down on genetic genealogy
Officers called to the scene of the bloody crime on November 13 quickly discovered a K-Bar knife sheath next to the bodies of Maddie Mogen and Kaylee Goncalves.
Unsealed court documents show the painstaking work of officers who matched the DNA found on the vagina to Kohberger’s by comparing it to his father’s DNA – which was 99.9998 percent matched and identified via a genetic genealogy website.
He was charged with the November 13 murders of Kaylee Goncalves, Xana Kernodle, 20, Madison Mogen, 21, and Ethan Chapin, 20.
Court documents recently revealed that police discovered a pillow covered in “blood” at Kohberger’s Washington home.
A new search warrant released Jan. 17 shows police found multiple strands of hair, including what they suspect to be animal hair, a black glove, a computer tower and an unnamed item with a collection of “dark red stains.”
They also hauled away a pillow with a “reddish/brown stain” and the top and bottom of a mattress cover with “multiple stains.”
Investigators who searched the property in December also took away receipts from Walmart and two receipts from Marshall, as well as the contents of his vacuum cleaner.
Authorities first sealed the search warrant for the murder suspect’s Washington home – arguing that releasing the details could end the investigation “prematurely”.
However, the document has since been unsealed with the approval of Whitman County District Attorney Denis Tracy, who filed the application on Jan. 17.
Court records show eight strands of hair were recovered from the home, as well as a “possible” pet hair.
During their search, they also recovered a Fire TV stick. All items are now stored at the Washington State University Police Department.
Authorities reportedly said they wanted to see if any hairs were “transferred” to Kohberger and then back to his home – including that of Kaylee Goncalves’ dog Murphy.
Murphy was found alive in Kaylee’s room by investigators called to the scene and has now been returned to her ex-boyfriend.
The motion also found that the house where the students were murdered contained a significant amount of blood from the victims — including “splatter and spilled blood.”
Investigators believe it is likely that the killer had traces of blood on his body or clothing and were hoping to find evidence in Kohberger’s apartment.
However, they did not describe the results of any of the tests in the documents and did not confirm whether any hair found matched the victims or Kaylee’s dog.
His offices at Washington State University were also searched, but nothing was seized by officers.